Courage
by darksidecoug
Summary: Link does the best he can in a world that is now Ganondorf's. However, when a stranger issues a call to become something more, he's tested in ways he never knew existed. Inspired mostly by OoT, but it will deviate a lot from canon. Basically my own take on how Hyrule would handle a war with Ganondorf.
1. Chapter 1

_ Running to the meeting spot, I was frantic. And late. I was always late though. Mostly, I was a blend of excited and nervous at the prospect of seeing my friend again. I finally reached the rock that served as a landmark and let out a breath of relief as I noticed the sun hadn't completely descended below the horizon. They should still be here._

_ My relief was short lived. Not only was there no one in sight, but there was also a sinister feeling in the air. My heart was pounding in my ears as my gaze turned to Castletown. I couldn't have been more than half a mile away and at the top of a hill too, but I was still having a hard time making out the town beyond the walls that encircled it through the fog... wait, fog isn't that thick or dark. Oh goddess, please no._

_ The uncanny silence from before was ripped apart as blood-curling screams rent the air. Those anguished cries ripped me from my shock, and I started sprinting towards the town. I saw a horse with two cloaked figures shoot out of the gate I was headed towards, but I barely paid them a couple seconds notice. They were not my targets._

_ A guard tried to stop me from entering the gate, but with my small size and speed, I was able to easily dodge him. Castletown was absolute chaos. There were monsters everywhere, some attacking and tormenting the already terrified villagers and some just enjoying the sight of all the destruction. It was sickening._

_ The fire had already taken over more than a third of the houses, and it was spreading fast. There were still some people trying to combat it, but it looked as if most had already given up. Were it not for my single-minded determination to get to the castle, I might have done the same. The horrifying scene coupled with the toxic smell and desperate cries could have driven anyone to inaction._

_ I was stopped about halfway to my goal by a familiar face. It was Korst, the man who ran the shooting gallery and taught me how to properly use my first bow. I tried to show him that I was in a rush, but he wouldn't let me past._

_ "Link, we need to get out of here right now. The smoke has messed up your sense of direction. You're going the wrong way."_

_ "No, I have to get to the castle," I yelled. He didn't budge. "She's in there. I have to get her out. I have to save her. You have to let me save her."_

_ The desperate tone of my voice changed his hardened look to one of sympathy, but he held me with an arm when I tried to get past. "I'm sorry, son, but if she's in the castle, she's already lost. Look."_

_ My glance past him confirmed his words. I could see orange flames licking the top of one of the spires. I sunk to my knees in despair. This is all wrong. This isn't how things are supposed to go. I felt completely empty inside as I watched the world around me burn._

I startled awake and took a few minutes to gather where I was. Relief coursed through my whole body when I realized I was lying in the grass of Hyrule field. With the sun beating down pleasantly on my body and the shock from the nightmare of that night seven years ago fading from my body, a smile made its way slowly across my face. I loved the feeling of the cool grass tickling the back of my neck. If I could spend all my time relaxing like this, I would be content.

"Aye, Link," called Landon, one of my traveling buddies. "Are you planning to spend the whole day sleeping? That won't put any food in our bellies, now will it?"

"No, I believe my sword does that."

"Don't be nasty," a voice from behind me said. I turned my head to see his twin brother, Trenton, approaching. "He's just pointing out that it's foolish to waste an entire day when it's hard enough to come by wages as it is. Besides that, being this close to the castle is dangerous. Though, Landon, you should know better than to antagonize Link after you've awoken him. You know how he is."

"Look, I told you my plans for the day were to wait here until nightfall. If you have a problem with that, you're more than welcome to leave. Remember, you're the ones who asked to join with me, not the other way around," I replied haughtily. I wasn't usually that rude, but today was the seventh anniversary of that fateful day. I was little sensitive.

They looked at each other, and engaged in one of their silent conversations I could never even begin to understand. Landon let out a sigh as he turned back towards me while moving the strands of brown hair that had fallen in front of his eyes back with his hand. "I'm sorry," he started, "I know it's a tough day for you. Trenton and I will leave and set up camp a more comfortable distance away from the castle. Once your mysterious stranger fails to show up yet again, you should join us."

I watched them leave until they're figures were specks on the horizon and promised myself to be kinder to the brothers in the future. They were nice enough fellows, made for enjoyable enough companions, and had helped me out of a tight spot a couple of times. Just not today. Today was hard enough without hearing complaints about my inability to accomplish what needed to be done. I was already fully aware of that particular limitation.

As predicted, I waited in vain until it was too dark to see. I never really expected anyone to show up, but at this point, it was tradition. Honestly, it was pretty much the one constant I had left in my life, and I refused to let it go. With one last glance towards the meeting rock, I jumped on Epona and rode towards camp, praying that tomorrow would be a better day. However, because of the darkness, I failed to see the pair of eyes, concealed in a tree, which followed my form as I left.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, I woke up and groggily tried to prepare for the journey ahead of us. After Ganondorf burned Castletown to ash and took up residence in the newly gutted castle, the nearest occupied village was over two days ride away. Luck was on our side though, because I was able to snag a couple rabbits only a few hours in, so we stopped for an early lunch.

When we finished, instead of taking off immediately, Landon and I spared. The clash of our blades didn't even last a whole minute before he was on the ground, disarmed, with my sword at his throat.

"That was amazing!" Trenton said gleefully. "I've never seen the skill you have with a blade before. I don't know if there's a man alive who could beat you."

I couldn't help the pride that swelled in my chest at his praise, but an unfamiliar voice shook me from my thoughts. "Would you like to bet on that fact?"

All three of our heads snapped around to see a strangely dressed man step from behind a tree. He wore thin armor that was a mix of blue and black. Over his shoulders hung tightly fitting white material that went down slightly past his hips. It was marked with a strange red symbol that looked familiar but that I couldn't place at the moment. Similar material was wrapped from wrist to elbow on both arms, from his neck to below his nose, and around the top of his head. This meant only his scarlet eyes, slight nose, and few strands of blonde hair that escaped from the head covering could be seen.

I gripped my sword more tightly as I looked him up and down. A lone man who was this far from town and dressed like that could only mean trouble. My companions, who had their own weapons ready, seemed to have the same idea. "It would be wise of you to leave right now, bandit," Trenton called. "We don't want trouble, but _you_ will be the sorry one if you don't go."

"Wrong on all counts," the stranger replied. "I am not a bandit, I am not here to make trouble, and I _could not care less_ about you two. I'm here because of Link."

My eyes widened with shock. How did he know my name? "What do you want from me, stranger? And how do you know me?"

His eyes locked on mine with an intensity that made me want to look away, but I refused to give him the satisfaction. "You have made quite a name for yourself with your ability to kill monsters. I want to see how exaggerated those tales are for myself. I'm here to challenge you to a fight."

The twins started laughing at the exact same moment in that eerie way of theirs. "A small man like you has no chance against Link," Landon said.

"Yeah, that fight would be over before it had even begun. It would be a slaughtering. He has no reason to fight you," Trenton chipped in.

What little I could see of his face remained as stone. "I have coin were you to win." Landon and Trenton became very excited, but I was unimpressed. Seeing this, he added, "as well as an ocarina."

I nodded my head in sudden acceptance. The twins were confused, as they should be. They didn't know that a dear friend had given me hers as a parting gift years ago. Besides the sentimental value, I found it relaxing to play. Unfortunately, it had been destroyed awhile back in circumstances beyond my control. While I had looked, I still had not found a replacement.

"And if you won?" I asked, determined to know more before I agreed.

"Does it really matter when you're so confident in your ability?"

I thought for a second. "Yes. When your opponent's motives are unclear or suspect, it's important to know the risk you're undertaking."

I thought I saw something flash through his eyes, but a moment later, it was gone. "Ah, so you do have something in that head. If I were to win, you would accompany me on a mission. You would receive compensation, so it's really a no lose situation for you."

I looked over at my companions and saw them nodding eagerly, but I still wasn't sure. "So this is just a one-on-one sword fight that ends when the loser submits?" I asked warily.

"Well, no, that wouldn't be a fair fight." Ha, I knew there must be some kind of catch. "All you need to do to win is touch me with your sword once. I wouldn't be victorious until your sword hit the ground in exhaustion or forfeit. Do you agree to these terms?"

"I don't like sneakiness of-" I started before his words sunk in. "Wait, are you trying to tell me that you think you are so superior in skill that I couldn't even touch you?" I wasn't sure whether to laugh at the ridiculousness of the idea or yell at him in defense of my wounded pride. "I don't know who you told you about my feats, but I haven't lost a duel since I was just a boy. Whatever trick attack you have planned to make me drop my blade has very little chance of success. You may want to rethink your terms."

His eyebrows slanted down slyly. "Oh, I forgot to mention-I will only raise my blade defensively. I will not try to disarm you to win. And it's not that I think I am that skilled; I just think you're not nearly as good as the hype would suggest," he taunted arrogantly. "Now I will only ask once more: "Will you fight me?"

Anger coursed throughout my whole body. How dare this cocky son-of-a-moblin disrespect me like that? Any caution I felt earlier was thrown to the wind. There was no way I would let him get away with that. "You're on. But when you lose, remember that it was you who set the terms."

We walked over to the flattest piece of land we could find. Landon and Trenton were behind me, already reveling in my future victory. "This guy is unbelievable. Link might beat him faster than he beat me earlier."

"Yeah, thank the goddesses for overconfident fools who are willing to part with their money."

I couldn't help but smile at their confidence in my ability. They really weren't too bad to have around. I turned back to my opponent. It wouldn't be smart to act as if I had already won before the match had started even if there was little doubt in my mind of the final outcome.

Instead, I started focusing my attention on the man across from me. His body was very toned, but it looked like I would have a definite advantage in strength due to his size. Not only did I have at least three inches on him, but I was much broader around the shoulders and chest. Overall, I probably had twenty or thirty pounds on the guy, and none of that was from fat. His advantage would be speed, but unless his plan was to run away from me the whole match, he would only be able to block my powerful strokes for so long.

He unsheathed his blade, which only served to confirm my suspicions about how the match would go. It was smaller and thinner than my own, built for speed, not to endure the assault I was planning to attack him with. Warning bells started to go off in my head because I couldn't understand why he would set terms that so obviously put him at a disadvantage.

"Before we begin, can I ask your name, stranger?"

He just stared at me for a few seconds, as if he was debating with himself whether or not he should tell me. "You may call me Sheik," he finally said.

The name was unfamiliar to me, but I heard a gasp come from behind. I shot the twins a questioning look, and Trenton spoke up. "I've heard a few stories-from about fourth party sources, mind you-about a fierce warrior who goes by Sheik. I can't say how much is true, but you should be careful," he said with a worried look in his eye.

I took his words to heart, and instead of charging him as I originally planned, I approached him more cautiously before starting my attack. I flipped my sword around in my hand a few times to make sure I was comfortable with the weight and had a firm grip as I circled him. He just stood there, his face eerily calm, as he followed me with his eyes. I tried sacrificing strength for speed in my first attack to try and catch him off guard, but his own blade easily stopped mine. After a few more similar efforts with similar results, it became clear that I could not beat him with speed. I figured he would be quick, but I had never seen anyone move faster than he did.

It was clear that I needed to change my tactic back to my original plan: I would strike as hard as I could relentlessly until his arms no longer had the strength to block me. I swung my blade at him as hard as I could, and, as I expected, he blocked it easily with his own, but not in a way I had ever seen before. Instead of planting his feet with his sword in front of his body to make the most out of the power he had, he moved his body to the side and took the entire force of the blow with the arm holding his sword. The technique effectively kept his body from being touched, but it seemed like it would make him tire twice as fast.

He continued to block me in the same manner for the next several of my attacks though, and he didn't appear to be weakening. I didn't understand that as I was using big and obvious attacks I normally would have paid big time for were he able to attack me offensively. Still, his sword stopped each of my efforts.

I charged him and thought it worked when he didn't jump out of the way for once, but instead he caught my blade with his own and used my own momentum to send me flying past him. As I was trying to stop and regain my balance, the edge of my sword skimmed across the ground.

"This is your only warning. Should your blade touch the ground again, I will consider it a forfeit," Sheik said, his voice even.

After that, I made sure to be careful to keep my sword in the air. I gave up the wild swinging and tried to use all my skill to sneak it through his defenses. Once I even switched my sword to my right hand to slash across his body. When he reached out to block me, I spun quickly inside and elbowed him in the stomach, eliciting a gasp as the air was knocked out of his lungs. I followed that with another slash as fast as I could, but my sword missed him by a fraction of an inch. He had jumped away just in time.

He narrowed his eyes at me, and I couldn't help but feel a little guilty. We had never specifically outlined rules against that sort of thing, but it was still a cheap move, especially considering how much the terms were in my favor. Had they been the other way around, the match would have been over in minutes.

I kept up a furious assault of attacks after that, but not a single one came close to hitting him. I was breathing heavily at this point, straining a bit to keep my sword off the ground, but he continued to dance away from every advance as if he were made of smoke. He barely looked as if he were breaking a sweat!

Discouraged and exhausted, I summoned all my energy for a two-hand overhand strike. This time Sheik planted his feet and swung his blade hard to meet my own. The combination of the unexpected resistance and the sweat that greased my palms ripped the sword from my grasp, and it clattered to the ground.

I collapsed into a sitting position, not having the energy to stand after my defeat. Silence hung in the air as I waited for Sheik to start gloating. When nothing was said, I looked up to see him on a knee trying to regain his breath, looking almost as worn out as I was.

"You have truly humbled me. Never before have I seen another with your level of skill. You're incredible," I said sincerely.

He gave me a slight nod in acknowledgement of my words, at which point the twins started assaulting him with praise and questions. He stared them down until they stopped in awkward silence. Dang, this guy was intense.

"Does this mean you will follow through on our bet?" he asked.

"Of course. In times like these, all a man has is his word. Although I have to ask, why would you possibly want my help with your mission? My abilities pale in comparison to your own."

"There is something you can do which I cannot." Seeing the inevitable question already forming on my tongue, he stopped me. "Do not ask me what, I was only instructed to give you this task"

"Instructed? Instructed by who?"

My question was met with another of his guarded stares, so I tried a different line of questioning. "What made you so sure that I would fight you? If I had any sense, I never would have agreed to that match."

"I saw little threat in you having sense," he said as the corners of his eyes crinkled a little, leading me to believe he might be smiling under his wrappings. "But as a failsafe, I brought something I knew would peak your interest."

"What?"

After looking at me for a minute, he let out a short whistle. A horse that had previously been hidden from view, trotted over to him. He reached into one of the saddlebags and pulled out a dark blue small, round object. Familiarity swept over me, and when I got a better look, I gasped.

It was an ocarina. Zelda's ocarina.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Unfortunately, this chapter doesn't have as much action as I'd like, but to move the plot along, I needed to explain a lot, but the next couple of chapters will have a lot more. I'd love any kind of feedback if you have time, but otherwise I'll try to update at least once a week with a chapter somewhere between 1500-3000 words long. I'd also love to respond to any questions you may have. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!  
_

_My prey was in my sights. I moved silently, not daring to make a sound. I was so close. Just a bit closer and... "Aaahhh!" I yelled as I sprang from the bushes. I knew I was successful when I heard her small scream. I narrowly avoided the smack that followed._

_ "Hey Zelda," I said with a mischievous smile._

_ "Link, why do you insist on sneaking past the guards, when you know I've instructed them that you have an open invitation to come in and out of the castle as you please?" she asked when she had regained her composure._

_ "I like the challenge. And it's good team building for Navi and me since I have to rely on her to know where the guards are. Besides that, if I came through the normal entrance, I wouldn't get to scare you."_

_ I ignored the unimpressed look she gave me as I sat next to her on the stone bench. We were in the gardens, her favorite place in the castle. Looking around, I could see why. Though there were still high, stone walls surrounding it, there was no roof or ceiling which it made it less stuffy than other areas. There were flowers of all different colors planted everywhere and a stream that flowed into a small pond. It was really peaceful, a good place to think._

_ "What brings you back here?" she asked, breaking the companionable silence._

_ "I've got some stuff to sell. Oh, and I met a Goron!"_

_ "You went to Death Mountain?" Her sapphire eyes were full of concern._

_ "Only to the base. There was an old Goron who was having some trouble with tektites. I got rid of them for him, and he was so grateful that he gave me some Goron wares. They fetch a pretty good price here."_

_ "Oh I see. How long will you be in town for?"_

_ "Not very long. It'll probably take me a few days to find buyers for my all my stuff, but then I'll leave after I get supplies. Adventure calls! I think I'm gonna go south towards Lake Hylia this time. Maybe I'll even meet a Zora."_

_ Silence fell once again as I started to think about what kind of monsters I'd find at the lake. Zelda played with something in her hands that I hadn't noticed before. "Hey, that's just like mine except yours is bigger," I said, pulling out my own ocarina. _

_ "It's Impa's. She's teaching me how to play it, but I've only learned one song so far."_

_ "Can you show me?"_

_ She played a soft, simple song that was much slower than the one Saria taught me. It was really pretty though, and it seemed to bring a certain calmness to the already serene garden._

_ "Will you come and see me again before you go?" she asked after she finished._

_ "Of course," I replied. "Just like I always do."_

"How did you get that?" I said through clenched teeth, carefully enunciating each word. My hands were balled up at my sides, and it was taking every ounce of self-control I had not to run over there and punch him in the jaw before snatching the instrument from his hands.

"Think of that information as an incentive. That and the ocarina are yours if you successfully complete your mission."

I couldn't contain myself anymore, and with a few quick, long strides, I was in front of him with the material hanging from his shoulders clenched in my hands, pinning him to a tree. "No, you'll tell me right now!" I basically screamed.

Any amusement he had on his face before quickly vanished, and his eyes narrowed dangerously. "I will do not such thing. Now, if you don't take your hands off me and leave as you promised, I will disappear and take the information you so desperately want with me."

I remained as I was, debating furiously with myself about which course of action to take. Every new thing I learned about this stranger threw me more and more. I had absolutely no idea if he was even remotely trustworthy or if he even had any real news about Zelda. However, that was definitely her ocarina, and I had given him my word that I would do as he asked.

"Decide now," he said with an edge to his voice.

Reluctantly I let Landon and Trenton, who I just now noticed had been trying to pull me from Sheik, drag me away. "Fine, just give me my task, and I'll be on my way."

He made a big show of brushing himself off and then, without even looking up at me, said, "Go back to where you were raised. Near the edge of the forest, there's a small nuisance that needs to be dealt with. Take care of it, and I'll tell you what you want to know."

"Are we allowed to accompany Link?" Trenton asked.

Sheik looked surprised to hear him speak, as if he had forgotten my companions were still there. "As I told you once before, I couldn't care less about the two of you. Do what you want; it makes no difference to me."

Before any of us could ask him anymore questions, he pulled a deku nut from within a pouch on his body and threw it to the ground, creating a blinding flash of light. When my sight recovered, he had disappeared, nowhere to be seen.

"What just happened?" Landon asked, stunned.

His question snapped me from my shock, and I rushed to pack up Epona. He stopped me though and waited with an expectant look, refusing to move until I explained. "The object he was holding belonged to a... friend of mine who I haven't heard from since the takeover. To be honest, I'm not even sure if she's still alive. That's why I have to go now. The faster I complete this stupid mission, the sooner I learn what happened to her."

Trenton walked over to me and put his arm on my shoulder. "Is this the same friend who you were waiting for yesterday?" he asked gently.

I just nodded my head, a lump in my throat rendering me unable to vocalize anything more.

His brother spoke up again, though this time his voice was a bit softer. "I'm really sorry Link, but I don't think going back to Castletown is a good idea. I've heard stories of creatures there, abominations really, that can freeze you in place and shatter your soul with just a look. I know I told you I was with you, but I won't follow you there. I refuse"

I couldn't help but laugh a little at how serious he had gotten which earned me a glare. "Thank the goddesses that that's not where Sheik is trying to send me. I told the two of you before that my past is complicated." They nodded, remembering my answer to their question when we first met. "Well," I continued, "I didn't live in Castletown until I was ten. Before that, there was a little confusion as to my origin. It's kind of a long story, but I'll tell you guys the whole thing if you don't mind riding while we talk."

"Of course," Trenton said, "but to what town are we headed?"

I smiled, already anticipating their shocked reaction. "We're going south, but not to a traditional town. We're going to the Kokiri Forest.

"So basically you were left by your mother in the care of a sentient tree that is somehow responsible for raising the Kokiri who are immortal, but don't physically age beyond their adolescence. You were then raised in ignorance, thinking you were one of the Kokiri until said tree enlightened you, but only after you defeated a monster that was living inside of him with a slingshot. Then you left, after finally getting your own fairy even though not having one is why you felt like you didn't belong, leaving your best friend Saria and the protection of the forest to deliberately fight more monsters when you were only ten years old. Did I get everything right?" Trenton asked, taking only an impressive two breaths during that whole recap.

"More or less," I said as I jumped off my horse. With all of their questions, it had taken the rest of the day to explain what he had just summed up in about thirty seconds. We still had another couple of days ride before we'll get to the forest, but it was getting dark, so we started to set up camp for the night. Luckily this part of Hyrule doesn't have too many monsters roaming about, but we'll still take turns on lookout duty just like we always do when we can't make it to a town before nightfall.

It was Landon's turn to make the evening meal, and we ate in companionable silence until he spoke up. "So who is the girl who owned that weird instrument?"

"Nobody," I said, most certainly not in the mood to go over that right now.

"Oh come on, she must be way more than a nobody. You looked like you were about to tear out that guy's throat when you saw what he was holding. Did you fancy her or something?"

I almost laughed at the ridiculousness of the idea. "No, we were friends. Listen, I don't really like talking about myself, and I spent half the day doing just that, so I would appreciate it, if you just dropped this subject. All you need to know about her is that I failed her a long time ago, and I am willing to do anything in my power to make it right." I gave him a look that said the discussion was over, and he swallowed the question I could see forming on his tongue.

Fearing that Trenton would try to tactfully wheedle more information from me, I cleared my plate and told them I would take first watch as I made my way to the perimeter of our campsite. Sleep was probably a good idea, but after a day like today, it was pretty much out of the question.

The rest of the journey didn't go too badly. I was able to kill most of the low-grade monsters we came across with my bow, not even needing to get off Epona. The twins kept a steady stream of conversation going between the two of them, so I didn't have to worry about that either. I loved traveling through the tall grass of Hyrule Field when the sun was out in a blue sky. If you tilted your head in certain directions, you couldn't even see the ugly black barrier that has surrounded Hyrule since Ganondorf's ascent to power.

"What do we need to do to enter?" Trenton asked with a slightly shaky voice as we reached the tunnel that led to the Kokiri Forest.

I understood his timidness: there were a lot of terrifying rumors about what happens to an unwelcome visitor in the forest. "We don't have to do anything but ride forward. Anyone can enter, but the Kokiri are protected here. As long as you don't intend to do any of them harm, you'll be fine."

"What happens if someone tries to hurt one of them?"

I considered Landon's question for a moment. "Well, the accounts vary, but they pretty much all end in death. Don't worry about it too much though, because I don't plan to visit the people here. If we keep to the edges of the town, we'll make it to the Lost Woods with minimal interruptions."

"Don't you want to greet your old friends? From what you told us, it has been almost a decade since you last saw them."

"No," I stated emphatically. "Saria's the only one I was really close to, and I don't really want her to see me like I am. They wouldn't recognize me anyways. If anyone else even thinks I'm alive, they're still picturing a ten-year-old version of myself. I never told anyone but Saria that I am really Hylian instead of a Kokiri."

With that, I urged Epona forward onto the bride and into the tunnel. I emerged into the emerald paradise where I had grown up. Man, I forgot how pretty this place is. Everywhere in Hyrule has its beautiful places, but none of them can compare to this one with all its beautiful trees and plants.

Apparently my companions noticed as well. "Wow, everything here is so green," Landon said. "We finally found a place where you don't stick out so much, Link."

"Before that comment, I think you guys went five whole days without making fun of my clothes. I'm pretty sure that's a new record," I joked. The truth was I intentionally only wore tunics that were the color of my childhood. I needed at least one tie to everything I left behind all those years ago, and that was enough.

We were lucky enough not to run into anyone before we made it to our destination. There was small chance of running into anyone after that because the Lost Woods didn't have the same protection as the rest of the forest. I was extremely surprised then, when I saw a small green-clad figure sitting on a stump in the clearing before the woods began.

"Saria?"


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: So I honestly thought I would have at least one review by now. It's not really a big deal, I just have no idea how any of you feel about the story. As long as someone's still reading, I'll keep posting new chapters, but if there's something I can improve, or you'd like to tell me where you'd like the story to go, please leave a review. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy.  
__

"Hey Link, long time no see," Saria said, looking exactly the same as the last time I saw her. She had the same short green hair, green jumpsuit, and green boots that she had back then. Seeing her almost unchanged triggered a flooding of emotions I had been holding back. I was happy to see her, sure, but I also felt extremely guilty for a number of different things.

"Yeah, sorry about that," I said, looking at the ground and shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.

"Don't be," she said kindly. That was typical Saria, trying to make me feel better no matter how much I screwed up. "I've missed you a lot, but we live in two different worlds now. Mine is like a rock; it mostly stays the same while experiencing a few changes over time. Yours is like soft clay, constantly remolding itself according to the will and desires of its occupants. I guess that kind of highlights the difference between the two of us as well. I can tell you've changed. It's written all over your face."

"Just because I'm older doesn't mean-" I started.

"No," she said, cutting me off, "it's not that. You look... hardened, which is completely understandable given what happened to your world." Her formerly cheerful expression faded, and she looked at me with large, troubled eyes. "I'm so sorry, Link. You shouldn't have had to go through that all alone. I wanted so badly to go to you when I heard of the takeover, but you know what would happen to me if I left the forest. Besides, I'm needed here too badly."

My throat constricted, and I couldn't form a response. I had been completely consumed with my own pain at the time, while she had been asking and worrying about me. I didn't even come back once to check on my old friend.

"How did you learn about what happened to the rest of Hyrule?" Trenton asked after it was silent for a beat.

"Occasionally, people still pass through the forest, and they'll let us know what has been happening. The Great Deku Tree had that information in the past, but he's still recovering from the attacks of the creature that grew inside him. Also, we have not been totally unaffected by Ganondorf's rise. I assume you didn't come across any Kokiri before me?" We nodded our heads in confirmation. "That's not by accident. The sounds of laughter and chatter that are normally so prevalent in the forest, have all but disappeared. So has the carefree, playful attitude of most of the people. Something has infected these woods, I fear even the Sacred Forest Meadow itself, affecting the whole forest with an eerie feeling."

I thought I felt bad before. That didn't even compare to how low I felt now. Once again, I failed someone I cared about. In the past, I justified not coming back here by thinking that this place was protected, that the contagion that swept through the rest of the land wouldn't reach the Kokiri. Looking back now, it was a pathetic excuse. My absence was absolutely inexcusable.

I wallowed in self-pity for a minute more before I finally looked Saria in the eye, a new determination flowing through my whole body. "I will take care of whatever creature resides in these woods. This I promise you. I don't care what it takes, just tell me where to go, and I'll handle it."

"Link you don't have to d-"

"Yes, I do," I said, cutting her off. "I have to do this, okay? I _have_ to."

Seeing that I would not be swayed, she sighed and nodded her head. "I don't know exactly where it is. Every time I've tried going very far into the woods, my feet feel heavy, and my heart fills with dread. I advise starting with the Sacred Forest Meadow though-it's a place of power. I imagine this evil might be drawn to it."

"Thank you, Saria." I started to leave to go deeper into the woods. Before I went in, I stopped and turned back to her. "I should've been here earlier. I should've stopped this threat before it even manifested. I'm truly sorry I wasn't, but I'm here now, and I guess it's better late than never, right?"

She looked like she wanted to argue with me, but instead she just said, "Please be careful Link."

I nodded my head in consent and motioned for my companions to join me. As we left, I noticed the eerie vibe in the air she mentioned that I missed earlier, and a sense of foreboding swept through me. It was going to be a long day.

"I told you to stay right by me!" I yelled at a sheepish Landon.

"I thought I heard something, so I wanted to check it out," he said weakly in his defense.

"No. This place is called the _Lost_ Woods as in, even under normal circumstances, not everyone who wanders in manages to find their way out. Do not trust your senses here because they are being deceived. Chasing after a far off noise or a strange sight on the edge of your vision is the best way to make these woods your permanent home."

I had been in his face during my impassioned speech, but I turned and walked a short distance away when I finished to try and collect myself. I understood now what Saria meant about feeling worse the deeper into the woods we went. We were fairly close to the meadow, but now every step was an effort. Before we came in, I was sweating a little because of the heat, but now cold had penetrated through my whole body. I could tell I wasn't the only one affected, though. Landon can be hotheaded and rash, but he wouldn't normally go off on his own like that. At least, not when I specifically instructed him to stay close. We were all a little restless, I guess.

Trenton looked really concerned and asked, "If we can't trust what we see or hear, how are we supposed to find the creature?"

"I've been in these woods enough to at least somewhat successfully distinguish between what belongs and what doesn't. Besides, once we make it to the Sacred Forest Meadow, it won't be nearly as bad."

When we finally reached the meadow, there was a collective sigh of relief. Without the dense packing of trees that was prevalent in the rest of the woods, the sun was actually visible, though it was low in the sky. That combined with the beautiful flora and impressive stone structure (even if it had collapsed in on itself in certain sections) made it easy to see why Saria is so enamored with the place.

"Please tell me whatever we're looking for isn't in the creepy building," Landon said with wide eyes.

"I don't think so. Saria and I came here a lot when we were younger. We tried every way we could think of to get into there, but to no avail. We could never find an opening that was big enough. Let's just search around the perimeter to start. If we don't find anything, we can try getting into building then."

The clearing was pretty large, so we each took our own areas to check out. We couldn't have been going for more than ten minutes when I saw a blur of motion out of the corner of my eye. Before I could turn around, I heard a long, deep howl with which I was only too familiar. I raced over to it as fast as I could, but I was only halfway there when I heard a yelp of pain.

When I passed the concealing vegetation, I saw a large wolfos with shaggy gray fur and Trenton's arm trapped in its jaw. I drew a knife from my boot and hurled it at the beast mid-stride. Throwing while running doesn't ensure very good accuracy, and instead of sticking in its side, the knife just grazed across the wolfos' back. The maneuver did cause the beast to release Trenton and turn its attention to me though, which was what I wanted.

I drew my sword and stared into its glowing green eyes, waiting for it to attack. My attention was so focused that I almost didn't react to the warning shout from Landon. I turned to see a second wolfos leaping at me. I braced myself before it hit, and used the momentum of my fall to kick up with both my feet and launch the animal away from me.

"Stand at my back," I called to Landon, who finally reached us. "These beasts like to circle their prey before they lash out." Sure enough, they did just that as Landon pressed his back to mine.

"I've got that one," he called, indicating towards the wolfos with crimson liquid dripping from its mouth. Personally, I would have liked to take whichever one gave me an opening first, but I understood his desire to take down the one that hurt his brother, so I agreed.

We spun slowly, keeping track of our respective wolfos. I tried striking out at mine a few different times, but each time the animal was too quick for me, jumping out of my reach before my blade could reach it. Then it would start circling again, but never attack. It just warily looked at the sword I had protecting my body. Thinking of an idea, I pretended to stumble on a rock and threw my arms out for balance. The beast jumped at me, paws extended to claw at my face, the second it saw its opening. I waited until it was at the perfect point in its leap, and then I thrust my sword upwards, piercing its body all the way through. It got close enough to lightly scratch my face, but my blade struck the animal's heart. Its glowing green eyes dimmed to black.

As I pulled my blade free, Landon capitalized on the temporary distraction to slit his own wolfos' throat, effectively killing it. He then hurried to his brother's side to tend to his injury. The bite marks in Trenton's arm weren't as deep as I originally feared, but it spanned the majority of his forearm. He'd be able to make do with cleaning it and then wrapping it with gauze for now, but we'd need to find a healer when we get out of here.

Meanwhile, I scanned the area to check for any more of the beasts. We could not afford to be taken by surprise again. When my search came up clear, I grabbed my water skin to clean the three horizontal scratches across my right cheek. Luckily, the wolfos had barely been able to reach me, so the cuts were relatively shallow.

"Were those creatures the ones we are looking for?" Trenton asked me.

I shook my head. "No, wolfos are nasty, but they can be found all over Hyrule. I suspect that whatever is causing the dreariness in the forest isn't nearly as common."

His head dropped in disappointment. "That's what I feared. What's our next course of action then?"

I looked up at the sky and noticed the sun had almost descended below the trees. "Well, traveling through the woods at night in these conditions is basically a death sentence, so we need to set up camp here. In the morning, we can head back to the village to drop you off before Landon and I continue searching."

He was not at all happy with my plan. "I'm not going to let the two of you wander around here by yourselves while I sit around waiting. My injury isn't that bad. I can handle it." He crossed his arms to emphasize his point, forgetting his injury. His involuntary grimace and hiss didn't exactly help his cause.

"It's not a question of whether or not you can handle the pain. Your sword hand's the one that is hurt, so you can't defend yourself. That makes you vulnerable."

He started to protest again, but I just continued over him. "That not only puts you in greater danger, but Landon and I as well. If we have to worry about keeping you from harm, we will not be able to devote our entire focus on our goal. That not only lowers our chance of success, but also increases our own chance of injury. You know I like having you at my side during conflict, but right now you're a liability," I finished, trying to keep my voice gentle but firm.

After considering my words for a while, he finally nodded his head in defeat. "At least, let me go back on my own. You shouldn't lose all the progress you've already made because I was taken unawares."

"No," I said, absolutely unwilling to compromise on this point. "I'd much rather lose a day than send you to a certain death. Besides, this task seems as if it might take longer than I was originally expecting. I want to get some supplies from the village anyways."

"Fine," he said, sounding a little angry. After a minute the corner of his mouth came up. "I guess I should know better by now not to argue with the Mighty Link," he teased.

"Yeah," Landon jumped in, obviously happy with the lighter mood "don't you know Link's always right? Why else would he rather jump off a cliff than compromise once he decides something?"

I gave them both a rueful smile that quickly disappeared when I looked around. It had grown darker, and the sun had almost completely set. While we argued, I didn't notice the thick covering of fog rolling in that was starting to envelop the whole clearing. The hairs on the back of my neck started to rise as I got the feeling that something definitely wasn't right.

"Be on your guard," I called over to the twins. They must have noticed something was off as well because they were all too eager to comply. I strained my eyes, trying to find the source of my discomfort, but the fog was making it hard to see more than a few feet in front of me.

"Link, what's causing this?" I heard one of them ask fearfully. I had no answer, but I was becoming increasingly restless as the wind picked up, and the chimes set around the clearing began to make an eerie sort of music. My heart was beating rapidly. The suspense threatened to consume me. I didn't have to wait long to discover the cause, though. Chills ran down my spine as the creepiest laugh I have ever heard sounded directly behind me.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: So this is the first time I've tried to write a big action scene, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. If you have a reaction, good or bad, or a suggestion, I would love to hear it. Oh, and just to let you know, the next chapter should start the main storyline. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy._  
_

I swung my sword with all my strength as I spun around, but it only hit air. There was nothing there. "Farore," I cursed under my breath. I turned in circles slowly, my eyes searching furiously for any hint of the demon. I thought I saw a light flash in the distance, but it was gone as soon as it came. Was I going crazy?

"Link are you there? Can you see the creature?" asked Trenton sounding absolutely terrified.

"The two of you stay where you are," I called back to them. "I'll find you, and then we ca-ooph." A hard object struck my back as I was walking towards my companions. "Link!" I heard someone yell. Instinctively, I rolled over after I hit the ground, just barely avoiding my head getting roasted by a small ball of fire.

Now on my back, I got my first good look of the creature. It had a ragged, tan cloak with the hood pulled up, obscuring most of its features, save it's glowing orange eyes. It's torso looked normal, but below that, there was nothing to support the rest of the body. Instead, it just floated above me, holding a lantern that matched its orange eyes in one hand.

I rushed to grab my sword, which had fallen from my hand when I fell, but the wraith disappeared with a demented laugh before I could reach it. I slammed my hand into the ground in frustration. "It's some kind of malicious spirit, guys," I called out. "Watch out because it seems to be able to appear and vanish at will."

"No, that can't be right because I told you from the beginning that I would fight anything with you except for one thing: evil spirits. Just that one thing because I don't want to be cursed or damned for eternity, and you told me that wasn't a problem, so I need you to figure what it really is because you promised, and you're supposed to be a man of your word..."

I stopped listening to Landon's hysterical ramblings and instead just focused on following the sound of his voice until I could make out him and his brother through the fog. He was still going on when I reached them. I grabbed him by the shoulders. "Pull yourself together, man. Had I known, you could have stayed behind, but I didn't and you didn't. Therefore, you need to suck it up and help me or sit down and wait for it to kill you. But I need to come up with a plan whether it involves you or not, so are you going to fight, or are you going to die?"

He was basically hyperventilated at this point, but he squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists hard enough to turn his knuckles white. Slowly, he was able to gain control over himself. "Okay."

"You're good?"

"Good as I'll get."

"Alright then, let's form a triangle with our backs to each other," I commanded with authority.

"You have a plan?" Trenton asked hopefully.

I gave him a sheepish smile. "Not yet, but at least this way none of us will get attacked from behind like I was. Now I want you to alert us the second you see anything," I said to Trenton. "Also you should hold your sword in your left hand. I know you won't be able to use it very well, but at least you'll have a small layer of defense."

He nodded, and we took our positions a few feet away from each other. I was searching my brain furiously for an idea as I looked for any sign of the spirit. I saw a flash of light and locked on. That had to be its lantern. I was about to shout out my discovery when I heard two successive grunts behind me followed by a sharp pain across my back that brought me to my knees.

The wraith had appeared in the center of our triangle. With a swinging spin of its lantern, it had knocked all three of us down. I heard the disturbing hysterical laughter off in the distance, which was soon joined by the spirit next to us before it vanished.

"Please tell me I just imagined the second set of laughter," Trenton said.

"No, I heard it too."

Landon looked like he was about to be sick with the way his body was shaking and sweating. I tried to give him a comforting look. "Don't worry, another isn't so bad. As soon as we figure out how to kill the first one, taking care of the second will be easy as pie."

He didn't look convinced. It didn't help when Trenton asked quietly, "But how can we kill something that's already dead?"

I stood there racking my brain for any kind of solution, but all I could give them was silence. I stared at the ground, frustrated that I let my companions down. The spirits had us at their mercy in the meadow, but leaving would result in an even surer death. I honestly had no idea how we could escape the situation.

I looked up to see if either of them had any thoughts just in time to see one of the wraiths appearing behind Landon. Without even thinking about it, I thrust my sword forward at the creature. I couldn't hit it where I wanted because Landon was in the way. However, I was able to nick its side causing the spirit to hiss before it disappeared.

The brothers looked at me with wide eyes. "Did you just injure the spirit?" Trenton asked in awe.

I was as shocked as them initially, but a grin started to spread over my face. "Yeah, I think I did."

"So they _can_ be defeated."

"Yeah, yeah," I said as I nodded my head enthusiastically. "I think when they appear, they briefly take corporeal form. That makes the trick attacking them as soon as they appear."

Landon didn't look nearly as enthused as Trenton and I. "But how do we do that? We were lucky that Link happened to look at that exact spot when it appeared. Every other time, we haven't known about their presence until someone's been knocked to the ground. Even when we literally tried to watch each other's backs, one of them attacked before any of us could react." Landon normally looks me dead in the eye when he's being serious like that, but his eyes were darting around the whole time he was speaking, and he had trouble keeping his voice steady.

"I have an idea, but you guys aren't going to like it." They looked at me warily. "I need both of you to stay exactly where you are. I'll be back."

"I don't think that's a very-"

"Stay _exactly_ where you are," I said cutting him off as I took off running into the fog. I stopped when I reached the stone building and started the familiar climb to the top. I made sure the whole time to never forget the twins' position. When I reached the top, I pulled the bow from my back and strung it with an arrow. As I touched the string to my mouth, I aimed to where I hoped the brothers still stood and waited. I had to devote all my focus to the task at hand, so I prayed that I wasn't attacked from behind first.

Just when I thought the spirits might have lost interest in us, a light flashed in my line of sight. I took aim just slightly to the left of the light since they both held their lanterns in their right hands, and let my arrow fly.

I was dismayed to hear a shattering sound, indicating my arrow hadn't hit the spirit like I intended. I only had one shot with this plan, and I had blown it, hitting the wraith's stupid lantern instead. _At least I hit something, I guess_, I thought as I ran back to my companions. Though I wasn't sure if I should actually be happy about taking its weapon away because it was also the only way to find the spirit in the darkness.

When I reached the brothers, I found something I wasn't expecting. There was a dimly lit sphere-like object hovering over the shattered remains of the lantern my arrow hit. It kind of looked like a purplish flame suspended in mid-air. "What is that?" I asked the twins, who were both staring at it in wonder.

"When your arrow burst through the lantern, the spirit seized up, dropping the part it still held. Then it slowly faded away, but not like its disappearances before. It was more like it was dissolving into the night. As it was fading, that purple thing appeared. I'm not sure if that orb is the spirit's essence or what, but I don't think that particular one poses any threat to us anymore."

I couldn't revel in the new discovery of how to defeat the creatures for long because a distressed scream ripped through the night sky. I thought the creatures' laughter was chilling, but its scream sent shivers up my entire spine. I looked up to see the other wraith floating above us, eyes burning as it looked down at its fallen comrade. With another scream, it started spinning around at a furious pace. Every couple of seconds, a new fire ball shot out of its lantern. We all ducked and ran for any cover we could find.

"It's going to burn the whole forest down at this rate!" Trenton yelled over the continuous wail coming from the creature.

"Can you hit the lantern?" Landon asked me.

"No way. It's moving way too fast. Hitting the first one was an accident and that one was mostly stationary," I replied, distracted by the flames that were starting to grow all around.

They started discussing how we could come out of this alive, but I didn't hear a word as the fire entranced me. Memories started to blend with reality. The smell of burning, the cries of children, the flashes of light that remain after eyes close, the pure devastation. My chest felt like it was about to cave in as I was overcome with a crushing sense of loss. My breathing became erratic because no matter how much oxygen I tried to suck in, I couldn't get enough air.

"Link!" I heard Korst yell.

"I have to save her," I whispered desperately.

"Link!" he cried again.

"I have to get to the castle," I pleaded, already knowing it was too late.

A smack across my face brought me back to the present, and Korst turned into Landon. "Link, get ahold of yourself! We are about to be fried alive, so you cannot afford to check out."

"I'm sorry. I'm back," I said, as I shook my head, trying to clear my mind.

"Landon and I have been trying to think up some plan of attack."

"I've already got a plan," I interjected.

Landon snorted. "Are you actually going to let us in on this one, or are we just to be unknowingly bait again?"

"No, not this time. You're a better shot than me anyway. Just ready your bow, and shoot as soon as you have an opportunity."

I walked towards the middle of the clearing, ignoring the frustrated calls behind me that begged me to come back. "Hey!" I shouted at the wraith.

It stopped momentarily as its hateful eyes settled on me. I knew it would start its rampage once again unless I gave it exactly what it wanted. Luckily, my flashback assured that I knew exactly what that was: revenge. "I'm the one who killed your friend," I yelled up at it. "He's gone now, and it's all your fault. You should have protected him, but instead he died by my hand while you were trying to have fun with my companions and me. You failed."

The spirit became even more enraged if that was possible, and it made its way towards me. I could almost feel the rage that it focused on me. It came up right next to me, its face so close I could smell the spoiled scent of decay. I had no weapon ready to raise in my defense. Instead, I looked straight at its glowing eyes, refusing to blink in the face of my death.

Right as the wraith moved to end me, it was struck by an arrow. It hissed in pain, but didn't disappear as I was expecting. I took full advantage of the opportunity I had been given. Grabbing my sword from its sheath, I spun around the spirit and slashed at the lantern in its hand.

Never before had the sound of glass breaking sounded so sweet. The creature froze as if I had stabbed it in the heart before fading into the darkness. In its place sat a second purple sphere.

"Link!" I turned to see Landon and Trenton running towards me.

"I defeated it. And this time it was on purpose," I said laughing at little.

Trenton didn't look nearly as happy as I was. "That's great Link, but we've got to go. The fog may have lifted, but the fire's still burning. I know it is dangerous to travel these woods at night, but we if we stay, we'll be consumed by the fire."

I looked around, surprised to see just how much of the forest was on fire. "Yeah, it shouldn't be as bad now that the spirits aren't here to infect the forest anymore. Speaking of which, did you want to just leave their remains?"

He looked torn for a minute. "I guess it couldn't hurt to bring them with us. Do you have a container to put them in?"

"Uh..." I said as I started looking through my pack.

Landon let out a little laugh of disbelief. "What is it with you and bottles? The way you are always losing them would make a person think they were the rarest item in Hyrule." He grabbed a couple bottles of his own and captured the orbs in them.

We grabbed the rest of our stuff and ran out of the clearing before we could inhale any more smoke. As soon as we were out of immediate danger, we slowed our pace. I took the lead, and we traveled in silence for a while.

"I know this path is still dangerous especially at night, but it feels a hundred times better than the first time we took it," Landon commented.

I agreed. The creepiness factor had gone down exponentially. The moon that had been covered by clouds for our entire time in the meadow was now shining down, giving us plenty of light.

"So why do you think Sheik wanted you to face the spirits so badly? He made it seem like we were doing a pretty standard task, but I've never been more scared for my life. Those things weren't standard monsters."

"I have no idea what his game is. But believe me, when I see him again, he _will_ give me some answers. He has _a lot_ of explaining to do"


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Hey, I'm really sorry that this is almost a week late. It was a crazy week, but I'll try my best to update within a week from now on. As an apology, I'm uploading two chapters this week. This was all supposed to be one chapter, but it kind of got away from me. Anyways, I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think.  
__

Saria met us about halfway back to help direct us back to the village. Apparently, she was connected enough to the whole forest that she could feel the evil presence being exterminated. We told her about the fire and asked if we should do something about it, but she just gave a small smile and said, "Sometimes the forest benefits from the cleansing of a fire; it gets rid of the excess, allowing new life to grow. Besides," she continued as she felt the air around her, "it should rain in an hour or so. There's a very small chance it will spread close enough to village to be of concern." It was a little off-putting to hear that kind of insight from a girl who looked as young and innocent as her.

As soon as we made it back, Saria immediately sent for a healer to tend to Trenton's arm. I felt bad when a bleary-eyed Kokiri stumbled towards us, obviously having just been woken up, but Trenton's arm was further torn and dirtied from falling a few times, so he needed treatment as soon as possible to avoid infection.

I tried to object when he moved on to my injuries. After all, I just had the scratches on my faces and a few minor burns. However, my objections were just met with comments about how I needed to stop being so pigheaded.

"Besides," Landon said, "if the healer doesn't take care of those scratches now, they might permanently scar your pretty face. And Link," he looked me dead in the eye with a false seriousness, "think of all the pretty girls you would disappoint."

He danced out of my reach as I tried to hit him. That earned me a scowl from the healer. "I used to know a Kokiri by your same name."

"Really? What was he like?" I asked faintly amused. I knew exactly what the other Kokiri thought of me or, well, my younger self.

He straightened his green hat while thinking about his answer. "He was a stubborn boy, always in the middle of trouble it seemed." Yeah, that was exactly the answer I was expecting. "But he had a good heart. He was always doing things to help other people. Not that he let anyone know it was him. If someone had a problem that he overheard, he would go about quietly trying to fix it, expecting and receiving no thanks. He even saved the The Great Deku Tree, which means he saved all of us since we're protected by The Great Deku Tree's magic."

"He never thought anyone noticed," Saria commented, her voice casual but her eyes staring intensely at me, "but we did."

"Yeah," the healer continued, not aware of Saria's intent, "maybe not all at once, but after he left and we started comparing stories of what we saw him do, well, let's just say, he's been sorely missed." He finished with me and moved on to Landon.

I was completely taken aback. How could he say that? I never belonged here, never fit in. That punk Mido had said as much my whole time here, and he was right. I'm Hylian, not Kokiri, so they should be glad I left. Okay, I guess killing the oversized bug in The Great Deku Tree could have earned me some points, but I thought only Saria knew about that. After all, Mido went around and told everyone that I tried to kill it. Huh, I kind of forgot how much I hated Mido.

"So why did he leave?" I asked, unable to help myself

Saria gave me a pained look, but she bit her tongue. "Well, I can't know for sure as I haven't seen him since, but it's almost like he outgrew this place. I know that sounds crazy since we all stop aging physically, but, I don't know, it seemed like he had a destiny outside the forest." He shook his head as he finished patching Landon up. "Then again, it has been many years; time could be skewing my memory. Anyways, it's late, and if you would excuse me, I'd like to go back to sleep."

We thanked him, and he left for his hut. Saria then directed us to the guest quarters where we could stay the night. Landon and Trenton trudged to their beds and collapsed on them, falling asleep instantly. I set my pack down next to a bed, but I wandered back outside and sat down next to the river. By the moon's light I could make out all the different areas I spent my childhood in.

Soft steps sounded behind me, and then Saria sat down beside me. "Do you remember playing on those floating pieces of driftwood?" I asked her, pointing across the river. "We used to bet on who could use those to make it to the other side without falling in."

"Yeah I remember. You should have won almost every time since you could jump the furthest, but you would get too excited and jump before you had good footing. You made some excellent face-first flops that way."

I laughed at the memory. If I was good at anything when I was younger, it was falling. I couldn't even count all the times I had literally fallen into trouble.

"Link," she started softly, "you really should get to bed. You have a long journey tomorrow."

I knew she was just thinking of me, but I couldn't help the bitterness that coated my reply. "Yeah, after all, staying here any longer than necessary isn't an option. I don't belong, so it would just be better if I left."

"You know that isn't what I meant. But if we're being honest, no, you don't," she countered, surprising me with her bluntness. "As much as I would like for you to stay, there are far greater things waiting for you in the outside world."

"Ha, there's nothing great waiting for me. Just a lot more places where I don't belong. My Kokiri-raised, Hylian-born status makes sure of that."

Her blue eyes filled with compassion. "Link, you have an amazing destiny if you will just accept it. Sheik told me-"

I grabbed her arm and cut her off. "Sheik? How do you know Sheik?"

She looked troubled at my tone, and tried to pull away, but my hold was firm. "He came by a few days ago and told me you would be arriving shortly. That's why I wasn't surprised to see you. He said he'd meet you just outside the forest to fulfill his end of the bargain after you finished your goal."

"Did he tell you anything else? Do you know who he is? Do you know what he wants with me?" I asked desperately.

She looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry, he didn't say much. I saw him for the first time a couple weeks ago when he came in the forest and asked about our troubles. Then he went into the woods. When he came back out, he said he'd send someone to come take care of it soon and left. Then he came back a few days ago and said you would be coming and that I should let you know that he would be waiting after you succeeded."

Disappointed she didn't have more information, I released my hold on her. She grabbed my own arm, however, and looked me directly in the eye. "I know he seems strange, Link, but I think you can trust him. At least listen to what he has to say and give him a chance." I nodded and we sat there a few minutes more before I stood and walked away, deciding to at least try for some sleep. I knew Saria was right about one thing: tomorrow would be a long day.

We left after a small celebratory breakfast the Kokiri held to thank us for ridding the forest of evil. It felt nice to be riding Epona again, after our slow progress through the Lost Woods. The nice slow rhythm of her trot was very relaxing. Maybe if I just rested my eyes for a moment . . .

"Are we supposed to be going anywhere in particular?"

Landon's sudden question caused my eyes to rip open and my head to whip up. I shook my head a little to try and focus. Delaying sleep always seemed like such a good idea until the next morning. "What?"

"I know Saria said Sheik would meet us outside the forest, but did she say where?"

"No."

"Then how are we supposed to find him? Where is he?"

"Here," a voice from behind us called. I turned as far as I could on my horse to see Sheik standing where our horses had crossed not thirty seconds prior. I guess appearing in front of us wouldn't have been mysterious enough?

I jumped off Epona, too impatient to turn her around, and approached him quickly. "Alright, we defeated the spirits in the woods like you wanted. Now it's your turn to give us the explanation you promised."

"And payment?" Trenton asked eagerly as the two of them reached my side.

Sheik ignored him and focused his blood-red eyes on me. "Your end is not yet fully complete. I need a report of what happened in the woods first. How you defeated the Poes. Then I will explain."

I wanted to grab him by the throat and demand he tell me now, but I gave a quick recount of our journey with Trenton and Landon filling in occasional gaps. He kept his face neutral throughout the whole story except at the end when he shook his head slightly and muttered something under his breath. I couldn't be sure, but I thought I caught the words "lots of work."

"Alright," I said, "no more delay. It's your turn."

After a couple of seconds of just staring at me, making me want to scream, he finally started talking. "This was a test meant to confirm our suspicions. It did."

"Stop being so maddeningly vague," I cried in frustration. "What do you mean by 'our suspicions', who are you, and why do you have her ocarina? That's all I want to know. It's super simple stuff."

He raised an eyebrow at that last statement, but continued anyway. "Fine, but you might want to make yourself comfortable; there's a lot to explain."

I remained as I was.

"Ever since Ganondorf's siege, there has been a very small group of people, myself among them, preparing and plotting to dethrone him. After all this time, our plans are finally almost ready to put into motion. My part involved testing you. Knowing her ocarina would motivate you, it was given to me by Princess Zelda herself."

He was interrupted by a collective gasp from the twins. They both looked at me with wide eyes. "The princess? The friend you were worried about was the princess! I thought you were basically a street-rat when you were younger."

"I was, but I can explain later." I turned back to Sheik. "How do I know you're really a friend of Zelda's? You could have stolen the ocarina."

He rolled his eyes, but he pulled out the instrument in question and started to play a familiar tune. A tune I had only ever heard in one place: Zelda's garden. "Only members of the royal family and their most trusted associates know that song. Is that evidence enough for you?"

I nodded my head. "So what you said is true? Zelda's alive. She's really okay?" I held my breath, waiting for him to cruelly rip away my newfound hope.

"It's true."

My relief was greater than anything I had ever felt. The burden I carried with me for the past seven years was finally removed from my shoulders. It felt as if a weight had been lifted from my very heart. "How? I mean, I heard rumors that she escaped from the castle before Ganondorf could take her, but I could never find anything definitive. And believe me, I looked. How have I not heard anything since then if she's really still alive?"

"Impa received a warning right before he attacked. She used the time to grab the princess and a horse, and they were able to flee just in time. You haven't heard anything about her because, out of necessity, Princess Zelda has become very proficient at disguising herself. She has spent this time preparing herself in both mind and body, but she now believes her days of waiting in the background are over. She wants to start her attack on Ganondorf. That's why I'm here; _she_ sent me."

"Hold on," Trenton cut in, "as strange as it is to hear, I can accept what you said about the princess being alright this whole time. But what does she want with Link? Even if they were friends, why would she go to the trouble of sending you to find and test him? And test him for what?"

Even though I couldn't see Sheik's mouth, the look he gave me made me sure that he was smirking. "Interesting. So you haven't told them?"


	7. Chapter 7

Sheik's POV

Link was desperately trying to keep his expression neutral, but it was obvious my question bothered him. That wasn't surprising. He did not have my same training in concealing emotions.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Of course not. It's easy to forget something that important, something that impacts your life that greatly. "You asked that I be honest with you. I would appreciate if you extended me the same courtesy."

He gave me a cool look, but it didn't affect me. I could out-glare this kid in my sleep. One of his companions spoke up. "Link, what's he talking about?"

"Yeah, Link, tell them. Tell them why someone as important as the _Princess of Hyrule_ would include you in her plans. Why _she_ would test you." His lips remained tightly pressed together. "You don't even have to say anything. Just take off your gloves and show them."

"I don't have anything to prove," he finally said.

A small grin spread across my face. "Oh, I think you have everything to prove. If you truly do not know what I am talking about, take off your gloves. Show us that you truly have nothing to hide."

He looked about ready to punch me. Let him try. If he couldn't touch me with his blade, he couldn't hope to land a hit with his fists. Instead, he yelled, "Fine!" and threw one of his gloves to the ground. I was surprised momentarily. I did not think he would give in that quickly. He held his hand in the air to be examined. "See, just a normal hand. Now can we stop this foolishness?"

The identical tag-alongs looked convinced, but I rolled my eyes. "Sure, after you remove the glove from your left hand. That is your dominant hand, no?"

He hesitated, unsure of how to respond. Tired of our back-and-forth, I swept one of his legs with my own, grabbed his left arm, and pinned him to a nearby tree. I held his arm awkwardly behind his back. He tried to fight his way out of my hold, but in this position, his superior strength was of little value.

I snatched the glove from his hand and smiled at the result. Up to this point, I was only 95 percent sure that I was right; it felt nice to have my suspicion fully confirmed. I held his arm further back to show the others the three connected triangles that marked the back of his hand, eliciting a hiss of pain from Link. I did not feel any sympathy. Had he cooperated originally, he would not be in this position.

Satisfied, I released him, and he stumbled away, clearly upset. His companions, meanwhile, looked as if they were contesting to see whose jaw could drop the furthest. "But, but. . . Link. . . what? how? I. . . you. . . hero?" one of them summarized astutely.

"I think it is your turn to offer an explanation," I said to Link.

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair, knocking off his green hat, too tired to care. "I've had this mark since before I can remember. Back in my Kokiri days, it was lighter, harder to see. None of us thought anything of it, other than it was some weird birthmark. We never learned the stories of the hero, or even the Triforce, you see.

"After I killed the creature in The Great Deku Tree, the mark grew darker, turning a slightly golden color. Then he told me about it, that it meant I was marked by the Goddesses. After that came the story of the hero throughout time, who was called on whenever a great evil manifest. I didn't understand all the implications at the time, though how could I?" he said with a humorless laugh. "I was only ten years old. Before he stopped to rest, he made me promise that I would keep my mark covered. He made me promise not to show anyone, at least for the time being."

He paused as if unsure how to continue, and I could not help but comment. "The Great Deku Tree gave you wise advice. Unlike the shortsighted king, who paraded his daughter around relentlessly when he discovered the Triforce on her own hand. The proud fool was basically begging for trouble," I finished bitterly.

"Careful," he warned, "I don't think Zelda would appreciate you talking about her father like that."

It was interesting to see how protective he was of a girl he had not seen since he was a child. I filed away that information to be used at a later date. "_Princess_ Zelda," I said stressing the title he could not seem to remember, "is well aware of my feelings towards the late king."

"And she's okay with you insulting her father, the former king?" he asked with wide eyes.

I hesitated, trying to choose my words carefully. "While the princess will always hold onto the love she has for him, she fully understands the limitations he possessed. Therefore, she does not fault me for my views towards her father as, objectively, her opinions are the same. What is done is done though, so it matters little. Please continue your tale," I said to Link.

"Oh, yeah," he said unenthusiastically. "So I did as The Great Deku Tree advised, and wrapped some extra material from my tunic around my left hand until I could buy some gloves. Ever since I left the Kokiri Forest, I've pretty much just wandered from place to place, fighting when I could, doing odd jobs otherwise. I'm sorry I had to keep that from you guys," he said to his companions.

"Well, that's understandable," one of them replied, "but are there any other secrets about you we should know? Because I thought your Kokiri origin was incredible, then I thought your friendship with the princess was astonishing, but you bearing the mark of the goddesses? It's unbelievable. I can't even imagine how you can top that one."

Link laughed and started to deny that he was hiding anything else, but I interrupted him. "No, what's truly _incredible_," I said almost spitting the word. "What's truly _unbelievable_, is that the supposed hero of the land has been traveling around, taking in the sights for all these years. Why? What happened, hero?"

Link's POV

My eyes found the ground, and I offered Sheik no response. He shook his head and walked a few steps away, like he couldn't stand the sight of me.

"You know, even though the hero of legend is a crucial part in Princess Zelda's plan, even though the very fate of Hyrule might very well rest with him, a part of me hoped I would not find him. That part of me wished him dead, or too injured to function, or _something_. Because the other possibility was that somewhere, a fully capable man was shirking his goddess-given duty and making this whole land pay for it. The thought that Hyrule's fate rested in the hands of a man who could watch the suffering around him, knowing he alone had the ability to end it, yet still he did nothing, caused me to despair of almost all hope."

His voice, while impassioned, was low in volume, causing me to almost strain to hear each cutting remark. I think I would have preferred yelling. He looked me up and down, seeming unimpressed. "Yet here you are, wandering around, fighting low-level monsters for scraps. Where is your honor? Where is your pride? Surely, this is not the best you can do. The goddesses chose _you_ to be their hero."

"Then the goddesses chose wrong," I said defiantly, unable to take anymore.

He scoffed at that. "So now you know better than the very beings who created you, who gave you reason? Here I thought you bore the Triforce of Courage, but it looks as if Princess Zelda has some competition for the Triforce of Wisdom," he said caustically. "No, that's just a poor excuse. I guess relieving yourself of your duty is easier than trying, huh?"

"I _did_ try," I yelled. Sheik did not look satisfied, but he finally shut his mouth. I wrung my hands together, on the verge of a complete breakdown. "I tried and I failed time and time again. On that horrid day, I truly believed that Zelda died. That broke me, a little bit, but I vowed revenge on Ganondorf. The problem was, I was twelve freaking years old. How could I possibly compete with the man whose power demolished a whole kingdom?

"So I started small. I thought maybe, if I could work my way up to more and more difficult monsters, that I would achieve the skill to defeat him. But at my strongest moment, I couldn't even kill a Stalfos." I tried to push away the memory of my pathetic fight with the armored skeleton. "Some hero I turned out to be. No, I'm nothing more than a failure. I failed Zelda. I failed Saria. I failed. . . Navi." My voice cracked on the last name, and I barely got it out, my throat closing over with emotion.

I thought I saw a flash of sympathy in Sheik's eyes, but when I blinked it was gone. "Let me get this straight; because you were not invincible when you were merely a child, you pardoned yourself from your calling? Well, I refuse to accept that. You may have gotten rusty over the years, but it is not yet too late to start what you should have been doing for the last decade"

"Rusty? How am I rusty?" I probably should have replied to the other part of his statement, but I couldn't let that one go.

He raised an eyebrow and looked at me as if I was an idiot. "Would you like me to count? First, there's the way I beat you handily in a fight where you were given every advantage. Second, there's the fact that you discovered how to defeat the Poes only by accident. Third, is that the accident that caused you to make said discovery happened because you managed to miss the entire body of the Poe you were aiming for. Would you like me to continue?"

"How were we supposed to know how to kill spirits we had never even heard of?" Trenton asked.

Sheik looked extremely annoyed that one of the twins had spoken, but he answered anyway. "One of the first things you discovered about them was that they could shoot fire from their lanterns, correct? Well, fire can't just come from nothing."

"Yeah it can. It's called magic," Landon said.

His comment elicited an eye-roll from Sheik. "Magic needs an energy source just like everything else. That energy source could not be coming from the spirit itself. In fact, to become corporeal, the spirit would also need to be drawing energy from elsewhere. That left only the lantern, which means destroying it would render the Poe harmless. Had any of you thought for more than two seconds, the solution should have been obvious. Unfortunately for me, it was your courage being tested, not your common sense."

"I'm sorry, unfortunately for _you_?"

"Zelda did not just send me to find the hero marked by the goddesses, but to train him as well. This seems as if it will be harder than I originally expected. Do not worry, I still have the ability to carve you into what you need to become; I just did not expect my materials to be quite so. . . shoddy," he said as he examined me.

Landon and Trenton howled at that shot. I glared at Sheik, but I could feel his smirk even though I couldn't see it. This guy was really starting to get under my skin. "And you think insulting me is the best way to get me to agree to let you train me?"

"Perhaps not, but do not act as if my criticism is unwarranted. It is time to step up and become what you were meant to be. It is time to become a hero. Will you join our efforts?"

I was so confused. There was so much new information, and my past kept cropping up to kick me in the gut. I didn't know how to process everything. "I don't know. I don't think..."

"You said you felt as if you failed the princess," Sheik interrupted. "Does knowing she did not fall that day change your mind?"

Where was he going with this? "No," I said softly.

"Then join her crusade. What better way to relieve your debt?"

I felt so unworthy. It wasn't that I didn't want to help, but I wasn't sure I could. And as much as I disliked the guy, it was obvious that Sheik was extremely skilled in many ways. He was too valuable a resource to waste on me. But. . . Zelda.

"Fine. I still think you've got the wrong guy, but I'm your man now. Or rather, I'm the princess' loyal subject, willing to do whatever she commands."

He gave a quick nod. "Good, I'm glad to hear it."

I reached down to grab my hat and walked back towards Epona.

"And Link," he called. I turned my head back. "Right now you may be pathetic. But give me time; I'll convince everyone of who you really are. Even you."  
_

_A/N: So this was my first time using Sheik's point of view. I'm still debating how much to switch to his point of view, so let me know whether or not you liked it and want more or less of it._


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: I really want to apologize for taking so long to upload this chapter. I had it basically done for about a week and a half, but things have been so crazy that I didn't have any time to proofread and edit. I know in the past I said I'd try to get a chapter up every week, and I'll still try my best to do that, but once every other week might be a more realistic prediction. Next, in case any of you were really confused when you read my last chapter, I uploaded two at the same time, not realizing how confusing that could be. So if you were lost you might want to go back and read chapter 6. Lastly, I want to thank everyone who is reading, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. I really struggled with this one, and it still doesn't feel very good to me, but let me know what you think._  
_

We rode until we were clear of all the trees that surrounded the Kokiri Forest. Sheik once again summoned his black horse from nowhere. How does someone train a horse to be that sneaky? I could barely keep Trenton, a human, from clearing the area of wildlife with all the noise he makes.

"Are you ready to begin?" Sheik asked after he dismounted.

"Uh, I guess. I don't know, this all seems so strange to me."

"Of course," he replied, nodding his head slightly. "It is called hard work. I understand why it might be a foreign concept to you."

Bam! Straight to the gut. "How do you want to start?" I asked through gritted teeth, trying to let his insult roll off my back.

He reached crossed arms past his shoulders and drew two thin blades from the sheaths forming an "x" across his back. "I need to gain a better understanding of your skill levels. Last time we fought, I was focused on defeating you, instead of learning your exact skill level and style, so we will start with another match."

He had to be kidding. "And this time you're using two blades as well as going on the offensive after you already beat me with neither? How is that fair?" I asked.

"Yes, I am sure Ganondorf and the demons he summoned are very concerned with fighting fairly," he replied dryly. "I am using my preferred style of attack this time. You, of course, should use your shield."

"Umm, I don't have a shield."

He blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"My last one kind of, well, burned up," I said sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck with my hand.

He stared blankly at me for a few seconds like he couldn't believe I was serious. Then he sighed and said, "Then we will have to pick one up at the next town. However, I advise next time you refrain from using your shield as kindling."

"Hey, it wasn't my fault! A suicidal keese lit itself on fire and launched itself at me. That kind of gives a whole new meaning to bat-shit insane."

He chose not to respond to that and instead turned to Trenton and Landon who were talking amongst themselves. "Could either of you lend a shield to Link?"

Trenton shook his head. "Sorry, but with the monster-filled land, shields go for a premium. We're lucky if we can afford the essentials, let alone a luxury like that."

"Fine then we will simply have to do without."

"So you'll only use one of your swords?" I said, relieved.

"Do not be foolish. I came prepared to fight. If it is not your habit to do likewise, you will have to learn to adapt to your disadvantage," he said. Then with no warning, he leapt towards me while swinging down with one of his swords. I barely had time to draw my own blade to clumsily block him from striking me down.

I glared at him as my sword pushed against his own. He wanted to play like that? Fine, I was more than willing. With all the crap I had taken from him in the last couple of hours, I didn't care how much better he was than me, I would hit him with all I had.

With a surge of energy, I pushed against him, causing him to stumble a few steps back. Perhaps a small thing, but it was a victory to me. Before he could attack again, I took a hard step feinting to my left. He took the bait and prepped both of his swords to block against the all-out attack he was expecting. I had him! I spun and slashed my sword parallel to the ground at his back. Impossibly fast, he dropped flat on his back, and my sword soared harmlessly above him. Before I could take advantage of his vulnerable position, he rolled back on his head and jumped to his feet in a defensive stance.

"I almost had you there," I said, trying to hide my awe.

"When 'almost' means something more than a broken promise, I might actually be impressed," he countered.

His arrogance made me seethe. I came at him again, this time trying a fury of attacks to drive him back. He parried each strike with one of his blades. I struck downwards, but he brought up both his blades and caught my sword. My attack left my body completely open (I guess this is why I needed a shield) which didn't escape his notice. One leg came up, and his foot struck me hard in the chest, knocking me to the ground. I groaned as the cool steel of one of his blades met the skin on my neck.

"Did you learn what you needed?" I asked angrily. The rational part of my brain was trying to tell me that he was just doing what he was sent to do, but the other part hated him anyway and, if I'm being honest, I wasn't used to losing like that.

"Yes," he said as he sheathed both his blades. He reached an arm down to help me up. I refused his hand. I stood on my own effort and asked, "Which was?" I wanted him to admit he was just trying to make me look foolish or show me he was better than me.

"I learned you need a shield as soon as possible," His eyebrows came down and he looked slightly disappointed. "And that I can teach you little on that front. We have very different styles, and I have not had enough time to learn the intricacies of any but my own. Along with a shield, I will have to find you a swordsmanship teacher as soon as possible."

A spark of hope rose inside me. "Wait, weren't you supposed to be my teacher? Does this mean you won't be traveling with us after you find a replacement?" Who hopefully won't be nearly as obnoxious, I thought.

"Do you truly believe that learning a few new sword fighting techniques is all you need to become the hero of legend? To defeat Ganondorf?"

"I, uh. . ." I trailed off. I guess I hadn't given it a whole lot of thought since it seemed like such an impossibility. If I were being honest, I was a little more interested in becoming good enough to beat Sheik.

"Do not be foolish. There are many physical aspects that I can, and will, help you with, but a certain mentality and presence is also required. I have to transform you into a real hero in every regard, not just a man who can hold his own in a one-on-one sword fight."

"Well, if you've mastered all these areas, why don't you just claim the title of the hero?" I asked, frustration and disappointment coursing through my body.

His eyes narrowed. "Because that is not my place. We each have a role to play in the war that will soon start afresh, and mine is to assist the princess and yourself. You were the one chosen by the goddesses to hold the blade that frees this land, not me. I have accepted my role, however distasteful it is to me. It is time you do the same."

His speeches had a way of making me feel so small, but like everything that happened was my fault at the same time. "Fine, let's just move on."

So we moved on to archery ("underwhelming"), knife throwing ("horrific"), and hand-to-hand fighting ("atrocious"). Then he wanted to test my physical ability. I did push-ups, pull-ups, sprints, endurance running, stretches, balance tests, etc. Towards the end, I honestly thought he was messing with me and just making up random exercises for his own amusement.

When he finally ran out of tests, he looked consumed by his thoughts. He nodded, as if confirming something to himself, and then made his way over to his horse. He jumped up onto the saddle and motioned for us to do the same. We gathered our things and took off, heading towards the closest town.

Sheik, not wanting to appear even slightly normal, kept at least twenty feet behind the rest of us at all times. It was strange, but it was fine by me as my dislike for the guy seemed to grow stronger over time. Trenton, who was a little more diplomatic than me, actually held back his horse and tried to engage him in conversation, but Sheik just gave him an annoyed look and said, "I cannot talk right now. I am busy."

I laughed when he told us what happened, but it was really odd. Assuming Sheik didn't need to focus all his attention on not falling off his horse, he was either ridiculously antisocial, or he really hated Trenton. Or both.

We rode until it started to get dark. Trenton, Landon, and I set up camp and made dinner while Sheik disappeared. I thought I wouldn't hear from him again until morning, but right before I was about to try to sleep, he appeared.

"Tomorrow will start your real training. Be ready to begin at dawn. Steel yourself, It will not be easy on you."

"I can't wait," I said sarcastically. "Anything in particular I can do to 'steel myself'?"

"Be prepared for the worst." He started to walk away, but then hesitated and added, "And you might not want to eat breakfast."

Landon laughed as Sheik left us. Maybe he sleeps in the trees? "Here I thought breakfast was the most important meal of the day."

I chuckled. "Nah, I think he's just trying to mess with me again. I may have promised to follow his training, but that doesn't mean I have to do whatever he whims. I'm sure I'll be just fine if I eat first."

-break-

I shouldn't have eaten first. That was all I could think as every bit of food that had been in my stomach expelled itself violently. Well that and how much I hated Sheik.

"Hey, stop dawdling. We need to get back to work."

Well speak of the devil. Possibly literally. I had a new theory that Sheik was evil incarnate whose only goal was to make me miserable. His idea of a training program so far was to make me run until I puked. "I'm just a bit busy at the moment," I called back between heaves.

"Stop making excuses and get back over here," he replied without an ounce of sympathy.

"I'm pretty sure this a sign from my body that I need to take a break," I replied when there was not single thing left in my stomach.

"No, it is a sign that you should listen to my advice. And also that you are far from the levels of physical endurance you need to reach. You still have five more sets of wind sprints left. If you don't complete them soon, the number will increase."

Did I mention how much I hated him? I slowly got up, worried that the movement would cause me to dry-heave. When I was steady, I walked back towards him, trying to balance my nauseousness with my desire to not run any more than I already had to.

The rest of the morning was kind of a blur. I blacked out for a couple seconds during one of his strength exercises, which got me a five minute break and advice to act like a man. At that point though, insults didn't matter. I would have let Sheik call me by girl names the whole time if it meant I could take any kind of break.

When he finally said I was finished, I collapsed to the ground with my face in the grass. I never wanted to move ever again.

"Was that really necessary?" Trenton asked Sheik angrily. Sheik had made the twins watch from a distance and promise not to say anything during my training.

"Yes."

"Really? Because to me it looked like you could have killed him if you had gone much longer. I understand he needs to train, but-"

"No, you don't understand," Sheik said, cutting him off. "The fate of this entire land rests on his shoulders. He cannot afford to simply be good or even great. He has to be _the_ best. So I will continue to train him like this because he can take it. Because he has to."

There was a pause as they glared at each other. Or at least I thought they glared at each other. My face was planted in the grass, and I had no desire to move it, so I could only guess. Though much as I liked Trenton, I was pretty sure Sheik would win that one. He had those demon eyes that matched the rest of his demon self.

"The two of you can make a fire. I will go catch a rabbit, so Link can get some meat in his stomach."

"Mmrfph," I said into the dirt to try and tell them I wasn't hungry. My stomach was still constricted from Sheik's insane idea of a workout, and I just wanted to lie where I was forever. They couldn't understand me, though I doubt they would have listened to me anyways.

Sometime later, I had no idea how long, Landon sat next to me and set a cup of soup near my head. The smell made my stomach growl, and I realized I was suddenly starving. I sat up too quickly; black spots danced across my vision and all of my muscles protested, but I didn't care because I needed food. My portion was gone in seconds, but Sheik brought me over some more.

"Thanks," I said after I gulped that down too. "So are we just going to stay here until I recover?"

"Actually, now is a good time to discuss that," Sheik replied. "I thought we could send these two," he pointed at the twins (did he seriously still not know their names, or could he simply not be bothered to use them?), "ahead to get supplies and find some work. I will stay behind with you, and we will make our way a little more slowly."

I gave a half-nod, too tired to argue. Landon didn't share my fatigue, however, and said, "Wait, a minute. Link may have some weird kind of faith in you, but I don't trust you. You just randomly show up, dressed like a thief, with wild claims about Link being Hyrule's supposed savior, yet all you've done from the moment we met is abuse and belittle him. You must be a new kind of insane if you think we're going to leave you alone with him."

Sheik's eyes narrowed. "Princess Zelda has entrusted me with Link's wellbeing. I would not jeopardize my relationship with her by letting any harm come to him. I am currently tolerating you and your brother's presence because I think the two of you could be of value in the future. The minute I think either of you is more of a liability than you are worth, you will no longer be permitted to travel with the goddesses' chosen hero. You would do well to remember that."

Landon's face was getting redder with every word Sheik said. "Shouldn't that be up to Link?" he asked, forcing himself to match Sheik's steely coolness.

"Not necessarily. But sure, why don't you ask him who he would choose if he could only continue with one of us."

Landon scoffed. "Wow, you think much of yourself. Tell him Link," he said as he turned to me.

Why did I have to be involved in their petty dispute? All I wanted to do was rest. "Well. . ." I started, not really sure how to answer him honestly.

Landon's grin fell from his face and was replaced by a look of utter betrayal. "Oh. Here I thought you'd pick the friends you've been traveling with for a year over the psychopathic stranger, but I guess I overestimated how much we mean to you."

"It's not like that. It's just. . ."

"No I get it. Now that you're the hero, you're too good for us. Fine. We'll go ahead and get the stupid supplies. Have fun with your new best friend. Let's go, Trenton."

I tried to stop him, but he refused to listen to anything else I had to say. I turned to Trenton for help, but he just gave me a 'what are you gonna do?' look and followed his brother. Before they left Sheik tossed Trenton a small leather pouch and a list of items he wanted, along with a place we could meet up.

"Well, that's just great," I said as I watched them leave.

Sheik began cleaning the mess left from lunch, but responded, "Yes. It is the outcome I desired."

I just shook my head. Man, I really messed up. It was going to take a lot of effort to get back on good terms with him. Oh well, nothing I could do right now. "How did you know I wouldn't agree with Landon?" I asked.

"I may not understand how deep your relationship with them is, but I hoped your desire to make things right was stronger. Great as you may think they are, they cannot help you in that regard like I can. Knowing that you are aware of this and that you are not a liar, even to make someone feel better, left me fairly confident you would respond in my favor to that ultimatum."

I took his words in for a minute. "But what if my friendship with them was more important to me than the mission you brought to me?"

"Well if that were the case, I would be wasting my time. I would rather discover that now."


End file.
